You apparently didn't read his post and take my response in context. The life of an electronic appliance/device does not end up being recycled the way you think it does. Just because the mess isn't directly in our backyard doesn't mean there isn't a mess.
This policy of shipping items worldwide to be recycled is a farce of sorts. Without knowing exactly where the items go, because Apple doesn't tell anyone, one can only guess that it could end up at places like this http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/10/v...nics-revealed/
So when you are done being naive about this stuff you will see how an electronic device and eco-friendly don't really belong in the same sentence.
Edit ****
And yes, I know apple has made an effort to remove some of the nastiest toxins from their products.
I agree with you here, and to be honest, even if the device is recycled to the fullest extent it can be at the end of it's life, even with a lot of the nastier chemicals taken out, there is very little eco friendly about semiconductor manufacture (I've worked in the industry 15 years and know a thing or two about it!)
I'm not saying it's not good Apple have become aware of the environmental impact, and it's good they are going for less toxic components, but I agree with your original comment, due to the incredible amount of energy involved in making devices, it is something of an oxymoron to call an electronic device environmentally friendly.
I'll say it again; this thing is going to absolutely take off in vertical markets: hotels, film & TV, medical, music & recording, venue management, trucking etc... Why? because there are already thousands of registered iPhone OS developers in those fields. The increased screen real estate has the potential for serious leverage of existing assets.
Film and TV? What would the use be there? This doesn't strike me as a productive device, it really seems like a consumable appliance.
I would like it to multi task. They are saying that this is/should replace a laptop yet I can't talk on skype, read my email, and surf the web. Strange, don't you think?
A built in camera would have been nice to start with. I think I saw that they have an add on that plugs into the 30 pin connector, but thats just another item to carry around, blah......
I have a couple other gripes, the bezel is very large. I realize that you need a bezel to hold the device but it seems very large to me.
***** Edit
I meant netbook, not laptop....
It would be nice if it did full multi-tasking, but I've really found limited use for it. There's only so much display real estate so how do you read email and surf the web at the same time. Now, I would like push notifications to be more flexible and show up as an alert button that can be pushed to see all notifications (including history).
As for Skype, maybe that is possible if Skype makes a webapp via Safari. On my iPhone, some current radio Apps switch to Safari when you ask it to so that it can keep running in the background while you use other Apps.
As for the camera, I bet they couldn't figure out how to make it really work. It might not have looked right to hold this big iPad up to take pictures (camera on back). And for a front facing camera, they may have realized that it's actually quite difficult to hold the iPad at just the right angle so that the camera is on your face instead of the ceiling or your stomach. It would have to swivel independently from the rest of the iPad so it may have been just too complex (and ugly looking).
I think you already gave the reason for the thicker bezel. When holding the device, you really don't want your fingers covering the movie or webpage or game.
And if this anal-ist doesn't think this will eat into Mac sales, he's wrong. A lot of typical consumers are ignorant and just buy the cheapest thing without doing any research.
Who cares if it eats into Mac sales? I don't because I think Apple is in the business of providing the best set of computing choices to the widest possible number of users, and those options just increased, maybe exponentially. Those of us who are power users, consultants, and geeks have to be careful not to assume the majority of computer users are like us. We are very often the exceptions, and complain about features that make absolutely no difference to the majority of people who want to simply use a device that works. The overwhelming success of the App Store shows the direction for the future of computing.
There is some interesting math that I'm sure Apple has done with the iPad. Compare the low-end MacBook with the basic iPad. In many cases the iPad may be all a user actually needs 90% (or more or all) of the time. Are Apple and its stockholders happier selling 2 million MacBooks at $1000 or 8 million iPads at $500? Plus, I don't think it's an either or situation. There are many people who do not currently use any kind of computer?PC or Mac?who are going to be irresistibly drawn to this little gem, and that means brand-new customers for Apple.
You think the iPhone has drawn attention? Let's talk again in two years about the iPad. My guess about sales? The iPad is going to sell 10 million units within the 12 months after it shows up for sale in the Apple Store.
for one load any software i want on it, and run multiple apps at the same time. like the HP tablet announced at CES and the upcoming Google Chrome OS tablets will do
No replaceable battery, no ability to add memory. This is designed to be thrown out in a few years just like the quarter Billion iphones and ipods sold in the last 9 years. They make fun toys, but don't be so quick to pat apple on the back for their environmental contribution.
Well stated.
The most environmental friendly electronic device is the one not even created in the first place.
For instance the near disposable iPad, now everything on it can be done by existing Mac's that last several years, but Apple doesn't allow Apps to be compiled for the Mac's.
I'll say it again; this thing is going to absolutely take off in vertical markets: hotels, film & TV, medical, music & recording, venue management, trucking etc... Why? because there are already thousands of registered iPhone OS developers in those fields. The increased screen real estate has the potential for serious leverage of existing assets.
is there a way to deploy software on hundreds of these at once remotely without the app store? like you can with Windows?
It would be nice if it did full multi-tasking, but I've really found limited use for it. There's only so much display real estate so how do you read email and surf the web at the same time. Now, I would like push notifications to be more flexible and show up as an alert button that can be pushed to see all notifications (including history).
As for Skype, maybe that is possible if Skype makes a webapp via Safari. On my iPhone, some current radio Apps switch to Safari when you ask it to so that it can keep running in the background while you use other Apps.
As for the camera, I bet they couldn't figure out how to make it really work. It might not have looked right to hold this big iPad up to take pictures (camera on back). And for a front facing camera, they may have realized that it's actually quite difficult to hold the iPad at just the right angle so that the camera is on your face instead of the ceiling or your stomach. It would have to swivel independently from the rest of the iPad so it may have been just too complex (and ugly looking).
I think you already gave the reason for the thicker bezel. When holding the device, you really don't want your fingers covering the movie or webpage or game.
I'm also thinking about apps that maybe don't take up real estate but run in the background, the radio apps running in safari work pretty well though so thats a good point. Although, you're at the mercy of the developer to do that, something Pandora hasn't implemented yet.
Maybe the bezel will prove to be necessary, it looks bigger than it needs to be, but I haven't held it yet so thats really just a quick opinion.
I'm surprised they didn't have some facial recognition software with a built in camera that would follow your face, to a certain point of course, so you didn't have to hold it up in front of your face. I expected Apple to come up with something that was one of those 'doh, why didn't i think of that' and all I saw was an Touch on steroids. Maybe in time I'll find a use for it but right now I just don't see it.
He clearly was comparing this device to a netbook when he started out the event/ipad intro by talking about how bad the netbooks are. This in itself is saying, "Instead of buying a netbook, we have something for you that is better". And I just don't see it yet, maybe it turns into that device that does over take the need of a netbook, for me it's not there yet.
What's missing that you wanted in a netbook?
For me, the only thing missing is Microsoft Office, and not because I want it, but because PC people want files in those formats, and iWork still has issues when translated. Who knows? Maybe MS will write a version of Office for the iPad By the way, Apple just set the mid-tier pricing bar for iPad apps by pricing each iWork app at $9.99.
The other thing could be a physical keyboard. but for me, netbook keyboards usually suck, and I have an iPhone, so I'm already pretty good at typing on a virtual keyboard.
Why an iPad? It's much easier to whip out and quicker to start up than a netbook; think about using a netbook in a car or carrying it around to meetings at work. It's 50% lighter (or more). Its battery lasts much longer. It won't be bogged down by malware or anti-malware, and won't need to be updated constantly for security reasons. It looks easier to use as touch will work better than a trackpad or nub. Buying software (games, utilities, etc) for it will be much cheaper.
4 to 8 million suckers. I honestly can't see why anyone would buy this.
Is Apple on the verge of jumping the Shark? This is it? An over-hyped, under-featured (for a tablet, if that is what this is), enlarged iPhone. This iPad iSucks.
1. no multitasking.
2. no camera/video chat.
3. Can you write on it? Does it have voice/handwriting recognition? Any new/better input method?
4. Can't run any real apps on it (if the iPhone OS is the future, count me out Apple. I'll stick with the traditional Mac OS , thank you).
etc, etc, etc.....
OK, but I can't see why people would buy the iPod Touch? Yet, there are still more iPod Touch users than iPhone users, so WTF? You either buy a 64GB iPod Touch for $399 or a 64GB iPad for $699 or $829 with 3G + Wi-Fi that AT&T is offering a NO CONTRACT Unlimited Data Plan for $30 a month and Access to ALL AT&T Wi-Fi Spots! Plus iPad has 802.11n! I do see high sale numbers because some of those iPod Touch user are going to trade up and get a iPad. This will have high sales in summer for school and high on Christmas sales. I say 5 Million iPads sold. I like James Cameron's Avatar but I didn't think it would gross over $1.85 Billion Dollars worldwide either. I love a challenge and I like to see this beat the crap out of Microsoft's Tablet Editions and Amazon Kindles. I'm sold!
OK, but I can't see why people would buy the iPod Touch? Yet, there are still more iPod Touch users than iPhone users, so WTF? You either buy a 64GB iPod Touch for $399 or a 64GB iPad for $699 or $829 with 3G + Wi-Fi that AT&T is offering a NO CONTRACT Unlimited Data Plan for $30 a month and Access to ALL AT&T Wi-Fi Spots! Plus iPad has 802.11n! I do see high sale numbers because some of those iPod Touch user are going to trade up and get a iPad. This will have high sales in summer for school and high on Christmas sales. I say 5 Million iPads sold. I like James Cameron's Avatar but I didn't think it would gross over $1.85 Billion Dollars worldwide either. I love a challenge and I like to see this beat the crap out of Microsoft's Tablet Editions and Amazon Kindles. I'm sold!
Right....and 5 million people are going to ditch their ipod touch or iphone that does 95% of what the ipad does and are going to lug around a 1.5 lb 10 inch tablet with them that needs a special bag and dock to sit upright...when instead an ipod fits in their pockets and does about the same things, except in smaller size, and it's hundreds of dollars cheaper....
do people not realize how cumbersome this thing is going to be for daily use outside of the home? It cannot replace an ipod touch unless you want to be carrying this thing around with you all day and prefer that to having it in your pocket.
And if this anal-ist doesn't think this will eat into Mac sales, he's wrong. A lot of typical consumers are ignorant and just buy the cheapest thing without doing any research.
$499 verses a $1999 MacBook Pro. "Internet and email, that's all I use a computer for!"
....
You are completely right that some consumers will think "Internet and email, that's I use a computer for..." because guess what.... They're right, that's all they use a computer for... They would be making a smart purchase.
It may eat into some Mac sales (as in some customers thinking about buying a Macbook will buy a iPad instead)... However, that % will likely be small compared to the HUGE (90% of the market) amount of customers thinking of buying a cheap PC laptop and rather going with the iPad instead. People looking for the cheapest Internet/Mail solution aren't typically looking at Apple laptops... they are looking at PC laptops and netbooks.
I'll stick with my MacBook Pro, you just can't go wrong to a lot of choice, power, storage, removable battery and upgrade-ability. And it already comes with a bigger screen and built in keyboard.
I find it a hassle to get out and use my 15" MBP for a 10-15 minute task, as a passenger in a car, in an airplane, at the airport terminal. Portability and mobility does have value.
Quote:
I see what Apple is doing now, they are pinching the MacBook Pro on every side, trying to get people to trade down in features.
On one side it's the MacBook Air and on the other is now the iPad.
And if this anal-ist doesn't think this will eat into Mac sales, he's wrong. A lot of typical consumers are ignorant and just buy the cheapest thing without doing any research.
$499 verses a $1999 MacBook Pro. "Internet and email, that's all I use a computer for!"
Eating into Mac sales will be very little. And doing so may be good for the long-term repeat buyer. Excepting the very rich who don't care, those who bought a $2000 MBP when all they needed was Internet and email might feel cheated when they find out what they did.
More importantly, Apple Macs weren't attractive to people who wanted to spend less than $700, like Lauren and those other nice folks in the MS commercials. They were going for cheap notebooks and netbooks. I have nieces who did just that; didn't even consider a Mac because it's just a computer and it costs so much. But they don't use their netbooks for much more than Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, IM, YouTube, Flickr, Sims 3, and some web surfing. So if the iPad attracts these people, it will be incremental additional sales for Apple.
By the way, note that Apple left a bunch of things off of the iPad, which will make a MBP or even MBA much more attractive to someone who wants those things. There is an upsell in here, that's for sure.
One more thing: The iPad is now the premium Christmas gift for truly loved ones.
No replaceable battery, no ability to add memory. This is designed to be thrown out in a few years just like the quarter Billion iphones and ipods sold in the last 9 years. They make fun toys, but don't be so quick to pat apple on the back for their environmental contribution.
Again, this just shows your ignorance. Apparently you missed the memo about Apple's recycling program for computers they sold you (regardless of whether you replaced it with a new Mac or not). Here, if interested, check this out: http://www.apple.com/recycling/computer/
Add: And, since you seem very concerned about this, let me ask you: Did you recycle your used computers, sorry, 'toys'? Perhaps you can give us some guidance on what we should do with ours if you think Apple's program is bogus. Unless, of course, your consumption habits and views on the environmental consequences of electronics are entirely consistent, and you don't use any electronics - do you consume electronics 'toys?'
I agree with you here, and to be honest, even if the device is recycled to the fullest extent it can be at the end of it's life, even with a lot of the nastier chemicals taken out, there is very little eco friendly about semiconductor manufacture (I've worked in the industry 15 years and know a thing or two about it!)
I'm not saying it's not good Apple have become aware of the environmental impact, and it's good they are going for less toxic components, but I agree with your original comment, due to the incredible amount of energy involved in making devices, it is something of an oxymoron to call an electronic device environmentally friendly.
Just curious: How do you deal with the environmental consequences of your own personal use of electronics? (I assume you use some).
Or are you suggesting that, as long as you don't call them 'environmentally friendly,' you're fine with however they they are used and disposed of?
The most environmental friendly electronic device is the one not even created in the first place.
For instance the near disposable iPad, now everything on it can be done by existing Mac's that last several years, but Apple doesn't allow Apps to be compiled for the Mac's.
Somebody call GreenPeace...
Same question to you as to PaulMJohnson above.
In the meantime, Greenpeace has not only been called, but they they've responded, and assessed. (See the links I provided for steviet02 above).
Comments
You apparently didn't read his post and take my response in context. The life of an electronic appliance/device does not end up being recycled the way you think it does. Just because the mess isn't directly in our backyard doesn't mean there isn't a mess.
This policy of shipping items worldwide to be recycled is a farce of sorts. Without knowing exactly where the items go, because Apple doesn't tell anyone, one can only guess that it could end up at places like this http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/10/v...nics-revealed/
So when you are done being naive about this stuff you will see how an electronic device and eco-friendly don't really belong in the same sentence.
Edit ****
And yes, I know apple has made an effort to remove some of the nastiest toxins from their products.
I agree with you here, and to be honest, even if the device is recycled to the fullest extent it can be at the end of it's life, even with a lot of the nastier chemicals taken out, there is very little eco friendly about semiconductor manufacture (I've worked in the industry 15 years and know a thing or two about it!)
I'm not saying it's not good Apple have become aware of the environmental impact, and it's good they are going for less toxic components, but I agree with your original comment, due to the incredible amount of energy involved in making devices, it is something of an oxymoron to call an electronic device environmentally friendly.
I'll say it again; this thing is going to absolutely take off in vertical markets: hotels, film & TV, medical, music & recording, venue management, trucking etc... Why? because there are already thousands of registered iPhone OS developers in those fields. The increased screen real estate has the potential for serious leverage of existing assets.
Film and TV? What would the use be there? This doesn't strike me as a productive device, it really seems like a consumable appliance.
I would like it to multi task. They are saying that this is/should replace a laptop yet I can't talk on skype, read my email, and surf the web. Strange, don't you think?
A built in camera would have been nice to start with. I think I saw that they have an add on that plugs into the 30 pin connector, but thats just another item to carry around, blah......
I have a couple other gripes, the bezel is very large. I realize that you need a bezel to hold the device but it seems very large to me.
***** Edit
I meant netbook, not laptop....
It would be nice if it did full multi-tasking, but I've really found limited use for it. There's only so much display real estate so how do you read email and surf the web at the same time. Now, I would like push notifications to be more flexible and show up as an alert button that can be pushed to see all notifications (including history).
As for Skype, maybe that is possible if Skype makes a webapp via Safari. On my iPhone, some current radio Apps switch to Safari when you ask it to so that it can keep running in the background while you use other Apps.
As for the camera, I bet they couldn't figure out how to make it really work. It might not have looked right to hold this big iPad up to take pictures (camera on back). And for a front facing camera, they may have realized that it's actually quite difficult to hold the iPad at just the right angle so that the camera is on your face instead of the ceiling or your stomach. It would have to swivel independently from the rest of the iPad so it may have been just too complex (and ugly looking).
I think you already gave the reason for the thicker bezel. When holding the device, you really don't want your fingers covering the movie or webpage or game.
And if this anal-ist doesn't think this will eat into Mac sales, he's wrong. A lot of typical consumers are ignorant and just buy the cheapest thing without doing any research.
Who cares if it eats into Mac sales? I don't because I think Apple is in the business of providing the best set of computing choices to the widest possible number of users, and those options just increased, maybe exponentially. Those of us who are power users, consultants, and geeks have to be careful not to assume the majority of computer users are like us. We are very often the exceptions, and complain about features that make absolutely no difference to the majority of people who want to simply use a device that works. The overwhelming success of the App Store shows the direction for the future of computing.
There is some interesting math that I'm sure Apple has done with the iPad. Compare the low-end MacBook with the basic iPad. In many cases the iPad may be all a user actually needs 90% (or more or all) of the time. Are Apple and its stockholders happier selling 2 million MacBooks at $1000 or 8 million iPads at $500? Plus, I don't think it's an either or situation. There are many people who do not currently use any kind of computer?PC or Mac?who are going to be irresistibly drawn to this little gem, and that means brand-new customers for Apple.
You think the iPhone has drawn attention? Let's talk again in two years about the iPad. My guess about sales? The iPad is going to sell 10 million units within the 12 months after it shows up for sale in the Apple Store.
What did you want to do with it?
for one load any software i want on it, and run multiple apps at the same time. like the HP tablet announced at CES and the upcoming Google Chrome OS tablets will do
No replaceable battery, no ability to add memory. This is designed to be thrown out in a few years just like the quarter Billion iphones and ipods sold in the last 9 years. They make fun toys, but don't be so quick to pat apple on the back for their environmental contribution.
Well stated.
The most environmental friendly electronic device is the one not even created in the first place.
For instance the near disposable iPad, now everything on it can be done by existing Mac's that last several years, but Apple doesn't allow Apps to be compiled for the Mac's.
Somebody call GreenPeace...
I'll say it again; this thing is going to absolutely take off in vertical markets: hotels, film & TV, medical, music & recording, venue management, trucking etc... Why? because there are already thousands of registered iPhone OS developers in those fields. The increased screen real estate has the potential for serious leverage of existing assets.
is there a way to deploy software on hundreds of these at once remotely without the app store? like you can with Windows?
It would be nice if it did full multi-tasking, but I've really found limited use for it. There's only so much display real estate so how do you read email and surf the web at the same time. Now, I would like push notifications to be more flexible and show up as an alert button that can be pushed to see all notifications (including history).
As for Skype, maybe that is possible if Skype makes a webapp via Safari. On my iPhone, some current radio Apps switch to Safari when you ask it to so that it can keep running in the background while you use other Apps.
As for the camera, I bet they couldn't figure out how to make it really work. It might not have looked right to hold this big iPad up to take pictures (camera on back). And for a front facing camera, they may have realized that it's actually quite difficult to hold the iPad at just the right angle so that the camera is on your face instead of the ceiling or your stomach. It would have to swivel independently from the rest of the iPad so it may have been just too complex (and ugly looking).
I think you already gave the reason for the thicker bezel. When holding the device, you really don't want your fingers covering the movie or webpage or game.
I'm also thinking about apps that maybe don't take up real estate but run in the background, the radio apps running in safari work pretty well though so thats a good point. Although, you're at the mercy of the developer to do that, something Pandora hasn't implemented yet.
Maybe the bezel will prove to be necessary, it looks bigger than it needs to be, but I haven't held it yet so thats really just a quick opinion.
I'm surprised they didn't have some facial recognition software with a built in camera that would follow your face, to a certain point of course, so you didn't have to hold it up in front of your face. I expected Apple to come up with something that was one of those 'doh, why didn't i think of that' and all I saw was an Touch on steroids. Maybe in time I'll find a use for it but right now I just don't see it.
He clearly was comparing this device to a netbook when he started out the event/ipad intro by talking about how bad the netbooks are. This in itself is saying, "Instead of buying a netbook, we have something for you that is better". And I just don't see it yet, maybe it turns into that device that does over take the need of a netbook, for me it's not there yet.
What's missing that you wanted in a netbook?
For me, the only thing missing is Microsoft Office, and not because I want it, but because PC people want files in those formats, and iWork still has issues when translated. Who knows? Maybe MS will write a version of Office for the iPad
The other thing could be a physical keyboard. but for me, netbook keyboards usually suck, and I have an iPhone, so I'm already pretty good at typing on a virtual keyboard.
Why an iPad? It's much easier to whip out and quicker to start up than a netbook; think about using a netbook in a car or carrying it around to meetings at work. It's 50% lighter (or more). Its battery lasts much longer. It won't be bogged down by malware or anti-malware, and won't need to be updated constantly for security reasons. It looks easier to use as touch will work better than a trackpad or nub. Buying software (games, utilities, etc) for it will be much cheaper.
is there a way to deploy software on hundreds of these at once remotely without the app store? like you can with Windows?
I wonder how they do it at the Apple Store...
4 to 8 million suckers. I honestly can't see why anyone would buy this.
Is Apple on the verge of jumping the Shark? This is it? An over-hyped, under-featured (for a tablet, if that is what this is), enlarged iPhone. This iPad iSucks.
1. no multitasking.
2. no camera/video chat.
3. Can you write on it? Does it have voice/handwriting recognition? Any new/better input method?
4. Can't run any real apps on it (if the iPhone OS is the future, count me out Apple. I'll stick with the traditional Mac OS , thank you).
etc, etc, etc.....
OK, but I can't see why people would buy the iPod Touch? Yet, there are still more iPod Touch users than iPhone users, so WTF? You either buy a 64GB iPod Touch for $399 or a 64GB iPad for $699 or $829 with 3G + Wi-Fi that AT&T is offering a NO CONTRACT Unlimited Data Plan for $30 a month and Access to ALL AT&T Wi-Fi Spots! Plus iPad has 802.11n! I do see high sale numbers because some of those iPod Touch user are going to trade up and get a iPad. This will have high sales in summer for school and high on Christmas sales. I say 5 Million iPads sold. I like James Cameron's Avatar but I didn't think it would gross over $1.85 Billion Dollars worldwide either. I love a challenge and I like to see this beat the crap out of Microsoft's Tablet Editions and Amazon Kindles. I'm sold!
OK, but I can't see why people would buy the iPod Touch? Yet, there are still more iPod Touch users than iPhone users, so WTF? You either buy a 64GB iPod Touch for $399 or a 64GB iPad for $699 or $829 with 3G + Wi-Fi that AT&T is offering a NO CONTRACT Unlimited Data Plan for $30 a month and Access to ALL AT&T Wi-Fi Spots! Plus iPad has 802.11n! I do see high sale numbers because some of those iPod Touch user are going to trade up and get a iPad. This will have high sales in summer for school and high on Christmas sales. I say 5 Million iPads sold. I like James Cameron's Avatar but I didn't think it would gross over $1.85 Billion Dollars worldwide either. I love a challenge and I like to see this beat the crap out of Microsoft's Tablet Editions and Amazon Kindles. I'm sold!
Right....and 5 million people are going to ditch their ipod touch or iphone that does 95% of what the ipad does and are going to lug around a 1.5 lb 10 inch tablet with them that needs a special bag and dock to sit upright...when instead an ipod fits in their pockets and does about the same things, except in smaller size, and it's hundreds of dollars cheaper....
do people not realize how cumbersome this thing is going to be for daily use outside of the home? It cannot replace an ipod touch unless you want to be carrying this thing around with you all day and prefer that to having it in your pocket.
...
And if this anal-ist doesn't think this will eat into Mac sales, he's wrong. A lot of typical consumers are ignorant and just buy the cheapest thing without doing any research.
$499 verses a $1999 MacBook Pro. "Internet and email, that's all I use a computer for!"
....
You are completely right that some consumers will think "Internet and email, that's I use a computer for..." because guess what.... They're right, that's all they use a computer for... They would be making a smart purchase.
It may eat into some Mac sales (as in some customers thinking about buying a Macbook will buy a iPad instead)... However, that % will likely be small compared to the HUGE (90% of the market) amount of customers thinking of buying a cheap PC laptop and rather going with the iPad instead. People looking for the cheapest Internet/Mail solution aren't typically looking at Apple laptops... they are looking at PC laptops and netbooks.
IQ78
I'll stick with my MacBook Pro, you just can't go wrong to a lot of choice, power, storage, removable battery and upgrade-ability. And it already comes with a bigger screen and built in keyboard.
I find it a hassle to get out and use my 15" MBP for a 10-15 minute task, as a passenger in a car, in an airplane, at the airport terminal. Portability and mobility does have value.
I see what Apple is doing now, they are pinching the MacBook Pro on every side, trying to get people to trade down in features.
On one side it's the MacBook Air and on the other is now the iPad.
And if this anal-ist doesn't think this will eat into Mac sales, he's wrong. A lot of typical consumers are ignorant and just buy the cheapest thing without doing any research.
$499 verses a $1999 MacBook Pro. "Internet and email, that's all I use a computer for!"
Eating into Mac sales will be very little. And doing so may be good for the long-term repeat buyer. Excepting the very rich who don't care, those who bought a $2000 MBP when all they needed was Internet and email might feel cheated when they find out what they did.
More importantly, Apple Macs weren't attractive to people who wanted to spend less than $700, like Lauren and those other nice folks in the MS commercials. They were going for cheap notebooks and netbooks. I have nieces who did just that; didn't even consider a Mac because it's just a computer and it costs so much. But they don't use their netbooks for much more than Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, IM, YouTube, Flickr, Sims 3, and some web surfing. So if the iPad attracts these people, it will be incremental additional sales for Apple.
By the way, note that Apple left a bunch of things off of the iPad, which will make a MBP or even MBA much more attractive to someone who wants those things. There is an upsell in here, that's for sure.
One more thing: The iPad is now the premium Christmas gift for truly loved ones.
And yes, I know apple has made an effort to remove some of the nastiest toxins from their products.
That's the least of it. You've just confirmed that you don't know much, really.
Start here: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...ics_maker.html or here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10371224-37.html and work backwards.
I'm astonished by how overwhelmed you are.
I forgot the 'sarcasm' tag..... my fault...
No replaceable battery, no ability to add memory. This is designed to be thrown out in a few years just like the quarter Billion iphones and ipods sold in the last 9 years. They make fun toys, but don't be so quick to pat apple on the back for their environmental contribution.
Again, this just shows your ignorance. Apparently you missed the memo about Apple's recycling program for computers they sold you (regardless of whether you replaced it with a new Mac or not). Here, if interested, check this out: http://www.apple.com/recycling/computer/
Add: And, since you seem very concerned about this, let me ask you: Did you recycle your used computers, sorry, 'toys'? Perhaps you can give us some guidance on what we should do with ours if you think Apple's program is bogus. Unless, of course, your consumption habits and views on the environmental consequences of electronics are entirely consistent, and you don't use any electronics - do you consume electronics 'toys?'
I agree with you here, and to be honest, even if the device is recycled to the fullest extent it can be at the end of it's life, even with a lot of the nastier chemicals taken out, there is very little eco friendly about semiconductor manufacture (I've worked in the industry 15 years and know a thing or two about it!)
I'm not saying it's not good Apple have become aware of the environmental impact, and it's good they are going for less toxic components, but I agree with your original comment, due to the incredible amount of energy involved in making devices, it is something of an oxymoron to call an electronic device environmentally friendly.
Just curious: How do you deal with the environmental consequences of your own personal use of electronics? (I assume you use some).
Or are you suggesting that, as long as you don't call them 'environmentally friendly,' you're fine with however they they are used and disposed of?
Well stated.
The most environmental friendly electronic device is the one not even created in the first place.
For instance the near disposable iPad, now everything on it can be done by existing Mac's that last several years, but Apple doesn't allow Apps to be compiled for the Mac's.
Somebody call GreenPeace...
Same question to you as to PaulMJohnson above.
In the meantime, Greenpeace has not only been called, but they they've responded, and assessed. (See the links I provided for steviet02 above).
Add: Here you go http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...ics_maker.html